Dismantling the patriarchy…one drink at a time!

Amendment XIX

On this date in 1919 Congress proposed the 19th amendment which, upon ratification, would guarantee women the right to vote.

The history of the suffragist movement began in 1848 at the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, NY. In 1840, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had attended the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London. Unfortunately they were relegated to the balcony as mere observers because they were women. As a result they decided to hold their own convention “to discuss the social, civil and religious rights of women.” At the Women’s Rights Convention Stanton presented her Declaration of Principles, a document based on the Declaration of Independence which highlighted women’s subordinate status. The Declaration of Principles included 12 resolutions, one of which states “That it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to the elective franchise.” This set in motion one of the most important eras in women’s history.

As the Civil War began the convention continued on a regular basis. The emphasis, however, was turned toward the emancipation of slaves. The belief was that upon emancipation slaves and women would be afforded rights equal to white men. The war ended and the government perceived the issues as two separate causes. Abraham Lincoln declared, “This hour belongs to the negro.”

In response Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Frederick Douglass created the American Equal Rights Association in 1866. The goal was to join the cause of sexual equality and racial equality towards the common goal of universal suffrage. Unfortunately the ratification of the fourteenth amendment in 1868, which defined “citizenship” and “voters” as male, and the ratification of the fifteenth amendment in 1870, which granted black men the right to vote, led to a temporary division in the suffragist movement. Stanton and Anthony created the more radical National Women’s Suffrage Association in New York. In Boston, the more conservative American Women’s Suffrage Association was created by Lucy Stone, Julia Ward Howe and Henry Blackwell.

With the proliferation of women’s organizations such as the National Council of Jewish Women and the National Association of Colored Women the suffragist movement continued to gain steam throughout the 1880’s and 1890’s. During World War I the movement slowed as women focused their energies on the war effort. However, in 1919 years of dedication came to fruition as the Nineteenth Amendment was passed in both houses of Congress. In 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment, guaranteeing the right to vote to all citizens regardless of sex, was passed by President Woodrow Wilson.

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